What's Left Behind
by GenisisLarceny
Summary: What's left behind, after all is given back? It's time for Sora to find out. Alternate to KHIII
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** May contain spoilers for Birth by Sleep.

What's Left Behind

_Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not. ~Henri Frederic Amiel_

"He's really going to go, isn't he?" Kairi asked, watching Sora try to fit too much stuff into too small of a bag.

"He really is," Riku said with a nod, leaning back slightly in Sora's window, his right hand steadying the tall teen to keep him from tumbling to the ground.

"Without us...again."

Riku glanced sidewise at the red-head, having to flick his bangs out of the way in order to properly view the girl. "Do you really want to go? To fight? To die?"

Kairi's hand clenched, as if wrapping around the hilt of the Keyblade she once carried into battle. "Do you want to let him go? To let him die alone?"

"He won't be alone, Kairi, he'll have Donald and Goofy with him,"

Kairi turned to look up at Riku, anger and fear in her eyes. "But not us,"

Riku turned away, glancing back at the brunette who was trying to decide if he really needed ten pairs of boxers over fitting yet another school book in his bag. "He has something to do, Kairi. We would just hold him back,"

"To put back the pieces," Kairi said softly, her own eyes turning towards the brunette. "What if he can't? What if he puts back so much of himself that there's nothing left?"

"There was always something there, Kairi," Sora said softly, his back to his friends.

Kairi jumped, startled. She had been sure that Sora hadn't heard a word they had said. She glanced at Riku before standing, her legs wobbling a bit from the sudden change of position. "How do you know that, Sora?"

Sora shrugged, stuffing another handful of snacks into his bag. "I just do. There is always a me, under everything else. Besides, it's not fair that I keep the things that belong to someone else, is it?" Sora asked, a hand moving up to rub at his chest over his heart.

"No, it's not," Riku said, unfolding himself from the window, standing and moving towards Sora, wrapping an arm around the younger teen. "Just don't give away too much. You're heart's a bit too big for your own good sometimes."

Sora gave Riku a smile, stuffing the snacks into his overflowing bag before reaching out and pulling Kairi close, dragging her into a three-way hug. "You'll see, I'll come back and everything will be fine,"


	2. Lost

_In the end, everything will be okay. If it's not, it's not the end. –Unknown _

"Riku! I see them!" Kairi yelled, taking off at a run across the sand, heading for the Secret Place that had just flashed with a brilliant light.

Riku watched her take off for a moment, a churning in his stomach, fear and hope colliding. He rose, brushing sand off his shorts as he followed Kairi at a slower pace, not ready to see just what was waiting for him in the dark cave that had began their adventure.

Kairi slid to a stop outside the cave, almost falling into the lagoon, staring at the boy in front of her, not even noticing Sora's companions.

Sora blinked, brushing back a lock of dark chocolate hair, no longer the sun-kissed ash it had been. The teen looked…smaller, somehow, but that could have been the fact that one of his dark coated companions seemed to tower over the young keybearer. "It's been a while," he said casually, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Kairi opened her mouth to comment, before yelping as a flash blinded her causing her to duck instinctively as Way to the Dawn soared over her head, pinning the shorter stranger in a dark coat to the rock wall behind him.

"Riku, no!" Sora said, moving between the two, staring deeply into Riku's angry eyes as he reached behind him, pulling the Keyblade from his companion's shoulder. "He's safe,"

"Nobodies are not safe,"

"Good thing I'm not a Nobody," the man said, pushing back his hood, revealing shockingly blond hair.

"Roxas," Kairi whispered and Sora shook his head, handing Way to the Dawn back to Riku.

"Ventus," Ven said, giving a bow to the girl. "A pleasure," He made a jerking motion with his head, returning to his companion's side. "We were just seeing him home…be safe, Sora,"

Sora nodded, watching as the pair vanished into the darkness of the cave, a flash of light signaling their departure before Sora turned, moving past his friends and heading towards his home.

"Sora…" Kairi questioned, hesitantly following the young keyblade master.

Sora paused, looking down at the sand. "I just…need some time," he said softly. "I'm not sure who I am yet,"

With that, Sora left the two standing behind him; his shoulders slumped as the weight of what had happened pressed down on him.

* * *

Kairi raised a hand to knock on the door in front of her, before biting her lip, the hand falling back to her side. Sora had been home for a week now and had yet to leave his bedroom, despite the best efforts of all involved.

He wouldn't even talk to them.

Raising her hand again, Kairi steeled her resolve for another attempt at prying Sora out of the cave he had turned his bedroom into, before a sound caught her ear. Frowning, Kairi pressed against the door, listening to whatever she could beyond the thick wood.

"_I can barely feel him anymore,"_

The voice was familiar, so much like Sora, and yet so much not. Kairi pressed harder against the door, hoping to hear more, to figure out what was going on with her friend.

"_I want to feel him again, but…I can't__…no matt__er how hard I try, no matter what we do, I can't feel him except then,"_

"Feel who?' Kairi whispered, wishing Sora (or whomever) would use names, anything to give her hope.

"_He's still there, Roxas, you just have to find him again,"_

That voice she knew. She still heard it some nights, when her memories took a drastic turn from reality and into a realm of unbelievable.

"_Sora's fading, Axel. Without Ven to hold us together, he's fading away, as if there is nothing there for him."_

"_What about the Princess?"_

"_I don't even think she could find him in this darkness,"_

Kairi gasped, and her head jerked up as the door opened, staring into rich green eyes. Behind her, on the bed, almost hidden in the shadows, was Sora…butthe person looking out of those eyes was nothing like the friend she had known.

"It's rude to ease-drop, princess," Axel said, raising an eyebrow before stepping away from the door, allowing Kairi inside.

Kairi swallowed, moving past the Nobody (and she _would_ pry that story out of Sora…Roxas…whomever soon), looking at the man who was inside her best friend's shell. "Who…how?'

Roxas stared at her out of Sora's eyes, before looking away, trying not to remember another girl with her face, another Nobody who gave him hope. "He gave away too much,"


End file.
